Program of Events – Series 1

The 1st Women in Business Series is now complete. Here is a fun picture from our Finale with the fantastic speakers and phenomenal women that came to celebrate with us! See what we covered during the 1st Series below and stay tuned for the 2nd Series!

Women in Business series 1 : Full program

Event 1: Why We All Need Mentors and a Business Community

This session kick-starts the Series by celebrating Thailand’s high levels of female entrepreneurship and providing a snapshot of the sector in the context of Southeast Asia. Here we discuss the importance of having a support community, mentors, and the role that focused business networks can play in supporting women entrepreneurs in the region. Hearing directly from 3 local businesswomen on the challenges, difficult decision they faced along the way, and where they turned for advice, we tackle the question: “Do we even need women-focused initiatives and how they can add to the existing ecosystem?”

This session will focus on how to build a strong brand – in Thailand and beyond – and the importance of marketing for the success of your business. Marketing your products and services is crucial, but can also be very expensive, particularly for new and smaller businesses. Here we will discuss how to leverage the power of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and more), and the do’s and don’ts of using social media for business in Thailand and internationally.

Event 3: Learning from Business Failure: Why it Happened and How to Start Over Again

Failure is not always bad. Sometimes it is inevitable and sometimes it’s even good for a company. Learning from failure is not easy, particularly because many companies are not comfortable talking about it. Here we discuss failure with 2-3 successful businesswomen that have seen some of their previous ventures fail, hear how they dealt with it, and how they have learned from it to improve their performance. This session will address both real failure and fear of failure and offer guidance based on real-life experience.

Building a great team and company culture is possibly the most important thing for any growing business. In this session, we will hear from guest speakers about their experience of building strong teams, focusing particularly around two main points: 1) the difficulty of attracting and retaining talent in a tight labor market; and 2) the challenges of turning your family members into business partners.

Event 5: Is Expanding outside of Thailand a Good Strategy for my Business?

The planned ASEAN Economic Community is expected to bring new opportunities and open up regional markets to Thai companies. This session will discuss the experience of companies that are exporting or planning to export regionally and internationally and reflect on how this integration might impact them. Speakers will tackle issues, such as “how to know if exporting makes sense for your business”, “what you need to know”, and “how to make it happen”. This session will also discuss how companies are financing their expansion to the region and internationally and what options are available to businesses that seek external capital for this purpose. Read more about our Speakers.

Event 6: How to Become a Trusted and Effective Leader (29 MARCH 2016)

Thailand has one of the highest rates of female entrepreneurship in the world and boosts an enviable number of women leaders. How do we make it even better? How do we turn Thailand into such a women’s entrepreneurship success story that it will become an example around the world for others to aspire to? The final session of the first Women in Business series, to be opened by US Ambassador Davies, will discuss this and more with three outstanding examples of Thailand’s female leadership. They will share their own personal experiences of leadership, their advice on what makes a great leader in 21st century Thailand and how we can bring more women to top leadership positions in the business and corporate sectors. The event will also feature an exclusive exhibit of 8 women-owned businesses that will showcase their unique products, ranging from diamonds to natural spa products to 3D pillows to supporting community projects: O-SPA International, Nhoo Matthews Atelier, Socialgiver, Kiidu, Diamonds of Eden, HappyPills, Greyscale Clothing, and Banana Blossom Tea